The second to the last of those credit card bills arrived yesterday, and today I went to pay it. It’s an “eBay Mastercard” through MBNA America. I owe $10.05, a portion of a gas fill-up I charged one day just to put something on that card.
I was going to write a check to pay it, but I noticed an information box on the statement that contained one item entitled, “Important News.” It went on to say: “Pay your bill quickly with the pay-by-phone service. Call 1-866-297-9258 to use this automated service. Payments post the same or next business day.”
I thought, “Cool, the quicker this payment clears, the sooner I can cancel this account.” I dialed.
As expected it asked for my account number, and told me that in order to complete this transaction, I’m going to need to have my bank routing information handy. No problem.
After it verified my account, and my zip code, it said, “Please note that there will be a $15 charge added to your payment for this service.” One of those take-the-phone-off-your-ear-and-look-at-the-earpiece moments. Click.
What are they, nuts? Do people actually fall for this stuff? Who would ever be so excited to pay their credit card bill quickly that they’d pay $15 to do it?
That is the most absurd thing I have ever heard of. I put my $.37 stamp on the payment envelope with glee.
I picked up my iPod today, and in Sam’s honor did this happy dance!
And, oh yeah, E-Ching, you’ll be glad to know I also bought some protection while I was there.
Also while I was there, I attended the iPod/iTunes class, which answered most of my questions, and taught me a golden nugget!
I can download free individual podcasts or subscribe to a series of them through iTunes! I was totally giddy about being able to subscribe to NPR’s Story of the Day podcast, described as, “Funny, moving, exceptional, or just offbeat — the NPR story people will be talking about tomorrow. The best of Morning Edition, All Things Considered and other award-winning NPR programs.”
These are the podcasts I downloaded yesterday:
Ebert & Reoper, Reviews for the Weekend of November 5-6, 2005
Ebert & Reoper, Reviews for the Weekend of October 15-16, 2005 (Contained the review for Elizabethtown, which I wanted to hear since I’ve seen it, and it’s had mixed reviews.)
NPR: Story of the Day, Nerd Hip-Hop, Flowing Like Hans Solo
Wall Street Journal Report, Hymowitz – Women to Watch
Wall Street Journal Report, An Update on Sarbanes Oxley
Wall Street Journal Report, Tara Parker-Pope on the relation between heartburn and cancer
Wall Street Journal Report, Interview w/ Kelly Greene & Ken Dychtwald on The Power Years: A User’s Guide to the Rest of Your Life
Wall Street Journal Report, Your Money Matters: Interview with Paul Malley, President of Aging with Dignity
I listened to 
while doing 30 minutes on the elliptical machine at Carmichael. I burned off 410 calories.
Following that, I listened to country music while walking 2 miles around the indoor track.
I met Joe for coffee at Helios just after 9 PM. The place was jammed; I had to park across the street at that lot adjacent to Hard Times Cafe.
There was a wine-tasting going on, with a guy performing live acoustical guitar music inside. We sat outside.
At Flex, we played several games of pool, for the first of which we were both pretty much “on.” Our performance deteriorated as the night progressed.
There was a “newbie” at Karaoke tonight, I’m guessing an out of town business traveler. He had on a suit. As he sang, he worked his arms intimating deep down passion and suggesting a great innerself-identification. I’m sure in his mind he thought he was Maria Carey.
Doug, Joe, and I visited Dawn on the way home. I had the steamed dumplings again. Dawn said, “You really need to try the fried ones some time.”